


It's just a little pain

by Nife



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, and a little bit about shiro, and lack of planning, but they are all kids, like fuck people, maybe I'm projecting, mostly Lance growls about Allura, others are mentioned - Freeform, the plans are barely plans at all, you're going to die if this keeps up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 20:23:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9140875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nife/pseuds/Nife
Summary: Lance really thinks that perhaps the people in charge should maybe plan a little better because cheesecakes these 'bonding exercises' are going to murder them before Zarkon ever gets a chance.Also why is Keith being a shit again?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Melantha25](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melantha25/gifts).



> For you Melantha25

“This will be an easy mission Lance, barely a scouting mission Lance.” the blue paladin grumbled as he trudged through rough, rocky terrain. It was nearly a 5 mile uphill hike to get to the pick up point. Not usually a problem, he’s got strong legs and did this all time in the garrison, even while carrying equipment. 

 

So what was the major hold up? Well let Lance tell you, this was completely and utterly the fault of a certain mullet who was currently injured and unconscious, being piggybacked. Why? Because Keith was an idiot who didn’t listen to people when they shouted ‘don’t be so freaking impulsive’. Nope, he took that as a cheese grating challenge! They wanted to prove to the whole universe he was the best of all the idiots with haircuts that should have ended with the decade they came out of.

 

The stupid jerk decided to take on more than he could chew in the form of a heck ton of drones that Keith single handedly fought before Lance could get into position and offer support. Man it's like that one time on Bulmera where they got along didn't even happen. Now they were right back to square one. Keith being a jerk and not listening to a blessed thing that anyone but Shiro said. 

 

Okay so maybe Lance was grumbling but he had a lot to grumble about. Like all that he’d previously mentioned and then the fact that apparently he was being singled out for not getting along with certain people and what in sam’s heck was that about Allura? Lance was a people person. He could get along with anyone who wasn’t a complete twit. Like Hunk or maybe Shiro. Certainly Coran. Sometimes, okay no Pidge just didn’t seem to like him very much but that was okay, mostly. Allura liked him when he was being productive. 

 

So it was Keith that Lance didn’t, again, get along with. Was that his fault? No! It was the mullet’s! He wouldn’t listen! He was impulsive and seemed to have a serious issue with getting along with Lance! It was his fault, not Lance’s! Lance even admitted he didn’t hate the stupid twit! Like at least once! He kinda remembered that part! 

 

Hopefully memory loss wasn’t going to be a consistant with this paladin thing. Because if it was he was in big and serious trouble. 

 

No point in worrying about that right now, Lance supposed. Not when he had bigger things to worry about, like the fact that Keith was bleeding on him. A lovely discovery found when he tried to wipe the sweat from his face and ended up smearing blood all over his forehead.  

 

Shit.

 

Ah cheesecake and here he’d been refraining from swearing and keeping his mother’s soap warnings in mind. Though if she were here she would probably at least think some choice curses of her own. Maybe after slapping some people around. Like Allura, though maybe he was just projecting.

 

No, he had to push past that, Keith was bleeding again and he had to deal with it, before things became worse. Good thing Hunk insisted he actually study and pass that first aid course back in the Galaxy Garrison. Gently Lance put Keith down, checking to see which of Keith's injuries was acting up. Quick assessment it was his head wound. Ah good, he knew those bled a lot. Unfortunately the fact that Keith was still out cold was really not a good sign. Quickly and efficiently Lance redressed the wound, growing more concerned when he didn’t even get a groan.

 

“Hey Keith!” Lance shouted, giving the smaller man a couple slaps on the face. Nope, notta. Not good. “Well you’ve really stepped into it now dropout!” He leaned back, running a hand over his face, grimacing at the smeared blood. 

 

“We don’t even have a way to call the others! Why did you run into that damned…listen to this! You’re making me use the lord’s name in vain! My mother will beat my ass when I get home and it’s all your fault! If you would just listen none of this would have happened?! What happened to us…when did you decided I was an idiot again?” Okay that last part came out pretty whiny but well Lance was really struggling recently with how far he got punted back in their relationship, friendship, thing… and not because of him! At this point he’d prefer that, at least he could fix it. 

 

“Just to let you know when we get back you’re explaining all this to Allura, especially the part where it’s your fault.” Lance sighed. Time to stop feeling terrible about this entire stupid situation and get them past the last stretch. 

 

With a grunt and a sigh Lance hauled the currently comatose Keith up and over his back and started walking. He’d made it up to about half a mile from his destination when he noticed a major hiccup in his plans. There was a vertical, as in completely, cliff that Lance would have to somehow traverse while carrying an injured Keith along. This was a problem. Now he’d have to carry Keith over his shoulder like a sack because he needed both his hands while not jostling Keith and reopening some of his wounds.

 

“What the cheese…” Lance groaned. He would literally give his right arm to have either Blue or Red right now. Then he wouldn’t be able to pilot either because of the lacking right arm and well, Red wouldn’t let him pilot her…probably. 

 

Lance finally managed to get to the base of the cliff and, after some rearrangement and tethering to the best of his ability, started to haul himself and Keith upwards. 

 

Not thirty feet off the ground and Lance started to feel the strain. It hurt, the entirety of him screamed in protest but still he moved. Sweat and flakes of crusted blood started to rivet down his face as he climbed making it even more arduous. 

 

His breath was all used up or he’d have complained the whole way up, or maybe cried. He was so going to need a healing pod after this. 

Finally the edge of the top of this stupid cliff that wasn’t supposed to be in between him and the check point came and he grappled both himself and Keith over it with a groan. If this cliff climb was a part of this stupid bonding exercise he swore to god, sorry again mama, he would deck the idiot who thought it was. Even if it was Allura. Well no, he wasn’t that brave but he certainly would scowl at her and refuse even one more of these training outings. 

 

“I want to go home.” It took his brain a second to realize that plea came from him, that he had uttered that outloud. Well it’s not as if it was a false statement and right now it was more true than it’d ever been. Right now he legitimately hated the life he was leading and certainly felt inclined to tell Allura and Shiro where they could stick their stupid duty to the galaxy. 

 

For a moment he just laid there, and allowed himself to feel everything Lance knew he shouldn’t. His regret for having followed Pidge off the roof to chase after alien shuttles. The hate he sometimes had for the way Allura could treat them sometimes. Weren’t princesses supposed to be delicate? He wanted a refund. 

 

No, that wasn’t what he really thought about her or anything. Lance was just tired, homesick and in so much pain and dealing with the fact that Keith, for whatever reason, had hoped right back into ignoring that he was even alive. 

 

“I wish Blue was here.” He muttered, a tear rolling through the dirt, sweat and blood. He nearly startled when he felt a hand brush the teartrack. “Keith!” 

 

“You…were crying?” Keith asked, voice raspy from lack of use. 

 

“I, no I’m fine. You, how are you?” Lance asked, rolling over to him and checking over his wounds.

 

“Where are we?” Keith asked instead. 

 

“About half a mile from the rendezvous point.” Lance answered. “When we get back I’m going to demand we have a better check up system like, if we don’t hear back from someone in the field we assume the worst and go make sure they’re freaking okay.”

 

“That’s-” Keith blinked, thinking about what Lance said, “actually a really good idea. I can’t believe we weren’t doing that before.”

 

“I’m beginning to think that Allura does not have a freaking spits worth of military experience.” Lance groaned. 

 

“But she’s a princess!” Keith argued.

 

“From a supposedly peaceful people, so either she’s lying about the peaceful part or only has experience in diplomacy not battle tactics and keeping soldiers alive. I find neither thought comforting.” and whoops, the fangs he wasn’t supposed to have came out, biting in exhaustion and irritation.

 

“Lance?” Keith asked, sitting up and looking at the taller man with concern reflected in those violet orbs. “You’re…I- uhm.”

 

“It’s fine Keith, I’m just tired.” Lance waved off any budding emotion. “I want this mission over with. If you can walk let’s go.” he stood and offered a hand, nostrils flaring when Keith looked at as if it would bite him. “Can we not do this right now? Would you, for maybe the second time in your life, just listen to me?”

 

“I-” Keith hesitated a moment longer and then took the offered appendage and was hauled to his feet. 

 

“There, you good? Looks like you can stand. I already did the hard part of this trek so it should be okay for you. Let me know if you feel dizzy or anything. You lost quite a bit of blood.” Lance took Keith’s shoulder and did another quick examination. 

 

“I’m fine.” Keith answered, blinking owlishly before watching as Lance packed all the equipment that they had for this particular venture. “Uh, did you want help?”

 

“No.” Lance answered curtly and finished. “Let’s go before something else comes along.”

 

“Right…” Keith answered, following behind. 

 

Now usually it was Lance making all the racket and Keith was either silent, sometimes even enjoying listening, or was arguing back about what course of action was the best to take. Now it was just silent and he could already tell it was making Keith fidgety. 

 

“What?” Lance didn’t mean to snip and bark so much but he had already had enough of this day. He wanted to go home, heal in the pod and then soak in a tub. Preferably in that order. 

 

“Lance, you’re…” Keith huffed as if trying to wrack his brain for the appropriate words. “You’re angry…at me?”

 

“We’re seriously going to have this conversation?” Lance deadpanned, he really did not have the energy for this.

 

“Well…it’s just that this was supposed to be a bonding exercise?” Keith ventured and Lance could feel the physical strain it was taking on him to be the one to continue the conversation. Well to bad, Lance didn’t want it.

 

“That got blown right out of the water by you, if you don’t recall.” Lance grumped.

 

“Lance!” Keith shouted, a growl rumbling in his voice.

 

“Don’t like the truth mullet?” Okay so he was apparently done pulling punches. “Well here’s some more for you,” he barely refrained from adding ‘to choke on’, “the past couple of months you’ve been a total prat! You don’t listen when people are trying to protect you, when you’re about to run literally head first into danger. It’s like you have blinders on only you’re not actually protecting anyone, you’re just blindly attacking everything around you!”

 

Stunned silence met his rant, Keith’s usually cold eyes wide and an emotion like vulnerability there lurking. When neither of them continued Keith finally found his voice enough to ask, “…When did you start to care? You never did before.”

 

“I do care! I wish to God I didn’t but I do…I do.” tears welled in his eyes again and he fought the urge to violently wipe them from his face. He’d earned these emotions, damn it! His face felt hot, heart pounding in his chest and he could see the same red dusting all of Keith’s cream coloured face. “I always did…even when I didn’t want to.”

 

Again silence drew long between them. Lance knew Keith didn’t deal with emotions or confrontation well, hell he’d even used that to his advantage a number of times without remorse, though Shiro didn’t find it nearly as funny. 

 

“I’m sorry.” The voice was weak and small but might as well have screamed as loud as a thunderclap in his ears. Head snapping up Lance looked at the smaller man standing, clutching at his hands, face flushed red and teeth grit tight. Miserable wouldn’t have begun to state just how utterly upset Keith looked. 

 

A feeling like pity mixed with compassion filled Lance and before he could grasp controls of himself he wrapped his arms around Keith, pulling him in close and resting his chin on the other’s shoulder. 

 

There was no movement from either as they simply shared space, breathing nearly in sync as they came down collectively from the emotional high. 

 

Lance knew he should say something, reassure him but wouldn’t backtrack now that the air had been cleared. He couldn’t. 

 

“I don’t care if the result is what they wanted I will be having words with Allura and Shiro, this was dumb as fuck.” Lance grumbled. 

 

“If it worked-” Keith nearly whispered, voice still not quite returned.

 

“No excuse, I’m going to let this be a trend. What if the next people they send are Hunk or Pidge?” Lance sighed. “I’m not letting this happen twice.”

 

“And me?” Keith asked in that same breathy tone.

 

“As if I’ll let you get punted into something this stupid after I literally spent the last half of a day saving your ass then hauling around this planet. You better remember what I said this time though.” Lance grumbled.

 

“Look who’s talking.” Keith shuddered and Lance couldn’t help it, he smiled. Nothing as wide or open as his usual but well…he just didn’t have the energy.

 

Bright lights flashed above them and both paladins had to shade their eyes from the onslaught. The jets of the green lion whipped about them and over the radio Pidge’s voice echoed out. “Finally, found you! Come on aboard!” 

 

“Please wait until after we’re out of the healing pods to rip anyone a new one.” Keith begged.

 

“We’ll see.” Lance grumbled lead Keith forward.


End file.
